Devices for the continuous monitoring of breaches in protective gloves used with handling of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and particularly in surgical procedures, have been available for some time. These devices operate on the basic principle of a breach serving to permit the automatic effecting of a completed electrical circuit between the user and the person (in surgical procedures) or object (such as chemicals) being manipulated by the user. In all such devices the person or object (as applicable) is connected to the monitoring circuitry. When used in conjunction with the monitoring devices, the gloves are used in an electrically conductive environment, such as with electrolyte containing body fluids of the patient in surgical procedures, where a breach in the glove results in a direct conductive bridge between the person being operated upon, and the user, such as a surgeon (or other surgical personnel) wearing the glove. Similar electrical connection is effected between and object and a chemist or lab technician but only if the object is in an electrically conductive environment. A monitoring device such as described in applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,434, issued Jul. 4, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto, detects the completion of the electrical circuit and effects the appropriate alarm (audible, visual or vibration) to the user or wearer of the glove.
While surgical procedures often involve conductive fluids such as blood, chemical procedures involving powders or solids (i.e., with little or no electrical conductivity) and the like, provide difficulties with maintaining electrical connection for completion of a circuit. Accordingly, it is the practice in such situations to periodically check for breaches, e.g., pinholes by application of a vacuum to the glove or by dipping the glove into a conductive fluid bath which is kept as part of the circuit to the monitoring device. These checks however require that work being effected with the gloves be interrupted with loss of productive work time. Heretofore, it has not been possible to provide a constant monitoring of glove condition while the glove is being used in a non-electrically conducting environment. Thus, in said patent and in the other prior art patents it is required that a conductive material from the working (and connected by wire) environment (e.g., blood or other body fluids or chemicals in conductive solution or suspension emanating from the person or object) provide the electrical bridging for completion of the electrical circuit necessary for sounding the alarm. These devices, as currently configured, are however incapable of detecting breaches in a glove in an environment of non-conductive materials such as powder, or if the object or person being operated on is not electrically connected by wire to the device. Accordingly, breaches in gloves generally and particularly, as used in glove boxes such as with silicon chips, wafers, chemical and surgical processes, wherein even the tiniest contamination can detrimentally affect production, remain undetected, because of the lack of a conductive environment.